Bangladesh’s move to digitise marriage registration was supposed to be a simple administrative upgrade – but it has sparked a national debate about surveillance, women’s rights and the clash between state law and religious marriage practices.
The new online marriage registration system is intended to stop men from hiding multiple marriages, abandoning wives or exploiting gaps in the old paper‑based system. Supporters say a centralised digital database could finally expose fraud and reduce corruption. Critics warn that technology cannot fix deep social problems – especially when state regulations and Islamic marriage contracts (nikah) under Sharia law operate side by side, often with conflicting expectations. They also point to growing concerns around data privacy, enforcement and the risk that digitisation could turn personal relationships into state‑monitored records.
On 11 May 2026, Ruzmila Haque spoke to Ishrat Hasan, a lawyer at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, to hear her views and help untangle the situation.
